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Wednesday, July 3, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle. - Walt Whitman

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Current racing:

• June 29 - July 21: Tour de France

Upcoming racing:

• July 27 - August 11: Olympic cycling

Latest completed racing:

• June 9 - 26: Many National Championships
• June 15 - 18: La Route d'Occitanie Cancelled because security forces busy with Olympics
• June 9 - 16: Tour de Suisse
• June 12 - 16: Baloise Belgium Tour
• June 2 - 9: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 5 - 9: ZLM Tour
• June 7: GP Canton Aargau
• June 2: Brussels Cycling Classic

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Tour de France stage 4 reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the Tour report from stage winner and new GC leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates:

Tadej Pogačar put in a great display on the final 800 meters of the Galibier and in the descent to Valloire gave to the Slovenian rider the first stage success in the Tour de France 2024 (12th in career in the Grand Boucle) and again the yellow jersey.

Tadej Pogacar wins stage four. ASO photo

The winning shot by Pogačar on stage 4 (Pinerolo-Valloire, 139,6 km with the climbs of Sestriere, Montgenevre and Galibier) was the cherry on top of a great performance by UAE Team Emirates, that forced the pace on the Galibier (22,9 km at 5,1%, summit at 19,5 km to the arrival) thanks to Almeida, Yates and a final contribution by Ayuso, with the result of a heavy selection in the top riders group.

Then it was Tadej’s turn to speed-up, only Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike) could follow him but the Danish climber had to give-up 300 meters later, reaching the summit of the climb with 13” of gap.

In the downhill, UAE Team Emirates’ captain was flawless, so he could increase his advantage on Vingegaard, who was eventually reached by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep, 2nd), Juan Ayuso (3rd) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora, 4th).

Tadej is the new leader of the general classification with 45” on Evenepoel and 50” on Vingegaard, Ayuso is 4th at 1’10”.

Pogačar: “I’m super happy. This was more or less the plan, and we executed it pretty well. It was like a dream stage, and finishing it off solo was very special. I wanted to hit hard today, as I was confident I could win and put some seconds on my rivals.

"I know this stage pretty well. I’ve trained a lot here and it felt like a home stage, passing through Sestrière and Montgenèvre. There was a lot of headwind in the Galibier climb, so the pace didn’t feel that hard when following wheels. Still, my team did a super good job. I didn’t want to attack too early because of the wind, so I saved my legs until that attack with 800 meters to go on which I pushed as hard as possible in order to make such big differences as possible.

"I knew the downhill, and that helped a lot, but it was a bit scary and surprising to see that the first few corners were wet.

“The gaps I created are good news for me. I can be happy with the position and the shape I am in right now. Yet there are three demanding weeks ahead of us, and as for this week in particular there is an ITT that can create some gaps.”

Stage 5 will start from Saint Jean de Maurienne and will finish in Saint Vulbas (177,4 km).

Here’s the Tour stage four report from second-place Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Remco Evenepoel produced a tremendous display on the first mountain stage of the race, which took the peloton from Pinerolo – the site of a legendary Fausto Coppi victory at the 1949 Giro d’Italia – to Valloire, on French soil. Sestrières, Col du Montgenèvre and the Galibier made for an important and early test that ended up shaking up the general classification.

Soudal Quick-Step showed an impressive collective strength on the ascents, keeping a number of riders around Remco Evenepoel, who was enjoying his second day in the white jersey. When the pace changed at the front on the slopes of the Galibier, the peloton was whittled down to around 15 men, including Remco and Mikel Landa, who continued to ride flawlessly and match the sustained pace despite the high altitude and strong headwind.

The first attack came one kilometer from the top, when Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) accelerated and opened a gap. Only Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) had the power to go after the Slovenian, cresting the summit just a few seconds behind. The roads were wet in the first part of the descent, and that slowed the Belgian a bit, who was caught by the chasing group and briefly dropped.

On the outskirts of Valloire, where the Tour returned after five years, Remco bridged across and took over the front, driving a high tempo under the flamme rouge and then accelerating in sight of the finish line to take runner-up after outsprinting his opponents and score his first ever podium at the race. It was a confidence-boosting result for Evenepoel, who jumped to second overall and strengthened his grip on the white jersey. The Belgian is joined in the top ten by his teammate Mikel Landa, whose solid ride helped him make a huge jump in the rankings, up to seventh.

Remco Evenepoel after finishing stage four.

“I am satisfied with my day. It was the first mountain stage of the race, we went to high altitude and had a lot of meters of climbing. The team did a great job, we were up there and can be content with the way we rode. When the attacks came on the steepest part of the Galibier, I did my best to limit the losses, and on the descent, I tried to come back, but the roads were a bit sketchy and I lost some time there. Despite this, I continued to fight and I’m quite happy with my second place on the stage. It’s a good result for the morale and we’ll look to build on this”, said Evenepoel after what was one of his most impressive displays in the mountains.

Here's the Tour report from Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

In the fourth stage of the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard crossed the finish line in fifth place. The 27-year-old Dane reached the top of the Col du Galibier a few seconds behind later stage winner Tadej Pogacar. In the descent, Vingegaard took no extra risks. He eventually finished at 35 seconds. He is now third in the general classification.

The peloton set off in Pinerolo for the final kilometres on Italian soil in this Tour de France. In the short but tough stage, the riders climbed three categorised ascents, with the Col du Galibier as the highlight. A breakaway of 17 was never given much breathing space by the teams with classification ambitions in the peloton. The last escapees were caught at the foot of the 22-kilometre Col du Galibier.

Stage four gets rolling.

On that Col du Galibier, UAE Team Emirates upped the pace. As a result, yellow jersey wearer Richard Carapaz got dropped at the front early on. Vingegaard was part of a small group of favourites. Just before the top, Pogacar attacked.

Vingegaard reached the top ten seconds behind the Slovenian. In the risky descent, Pogacar systematically extended his lead. Vingegaard finished in Valloire together with Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso, Primoz Roglic and Carlos Rodriguez, more than half a minute behind Pogacar. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader moves up to place three in the general classification.

"The 50 seconds behind Pogacar in the general classification are playable”, Vingegaard responded afterwards. "It's never nice to lose time, but to be honest I expected bigger time differences after four stages. Today I lost most of my time in the second part of the descent. I was ten seconds behind for some time, but on the long straights he was able to gain seconds. We know what we are doing. We believe in our plan."

"We knew this scenario was possible”, sports director Grischa Niermann added. "We also expected Jonas to lose some time in the first stages. He rode a very good climb of the Galibier, but unfortunately he had to leave a small gap just before the top. Pogacar was the better rider today. We are convinced that Jonas is going to grow in this Tour."

And here's the report from Carlos Rodriguez's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Carlos Rodriguez moved up to sixth overall following stage four at the Tour de France with an impressive ride over the Col du Galibier.

The Spaniard rode hard in a massive early race mountain test, finishing sixth on the day as part of an elite five-man chase group. The Grenadier crossed the line 37 seconds behind solo stage winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), on a day that saw the Slovenian ride back into yellow. Pogacar caused the lead group to fracture following a big acceleration with 800 metres to go up the infamous Galibier.

Rodriguez climbed well and used his descending skills as part of a group which reeled Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) back in on the run for home. Carlos now sits 1:16 off yellow, with team-mate Egan Bernal joining him in the top 10 in 10th.

Carlos Rodriguez descending in the 2023 Tour de France. Sirotti photo

Bernal became distanced with 4km of climbing to go, but was able to limit his losses well, finishing in a chasing group alongside Geraint Thomas at the line. He now sits at 3:21 on GC.

Early on the combination of a tough uphill drag from the very start and a high pace made life very difficult for the peloton. Eventually the Grenadiers were able to regroup well as the race returned to French roads, and began the final climb as a unit.

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